Children say the darndest things

I re-read "Slapstick" by Kurt Vonnegut last night. The first time I read it, I was young and it was before I had all of these kids, and I focused mainly on the part about the artificial extended families. Last night, I was wrapped up in the story of being nice to children and making sure that you realize how very new these people are to the world. Let me quote:

"This person has just arrived on this planet, knows nothing about it,
has no standards by which to judge it. This person does not care
what it becomes. It is eager to become absolutely anything it is
supposed to be."

Honestly, they have no idea, they are recent transplants to this place. Their job is to explore it, figure it out, and make the most of it. It's easy to forget that when they're cracking eggs all over the floor, or fighting for what they consider equal rights. Sometimes, they remind you. Again, let me quote:

The Scene: A mini van in suburbia. A family travels from dance class to home.
The Characters: A mom, her middle child(aged 7), and her youngest son(aged 5).

Youngest Child: Mom, how long has Spongebob been on?
Mom: Oh, a while. I remember it being on when I was pretty young.
Youngest Child: Soooo....since the '45's?
Mom: NO! Since the '90's.
Middle Child: Whoa! That's a REALLY long time ago. (Aside to youngest child) Did you know that when mom was a little kid everything was in black and white on the television and Mickey Mouse was really scary looking?
Youngest Child: Back in the '45's?
Mom: NO! That was a REALLY long time before I was born. Mickey Mouse was normal and IN COLOR before I was born!
Middle Child: Soooo...when Aunt Chrissy was a kid?
End Scene

See? The point in this exercise is to demonstrate how little they actually understand about what came before them and how subjective things are. They are still little enough to think that I'm ancient and that I know everything, like when Spongebob started. It's amazing how little they actually know....

It also really helps that we've been reading the heck out of Shel Silverstein poems, and they're pretty child rights oriented. And Roald Dahl. I guess we're on a child liberation kick, and it's enlightening to remember stuff from their point of view. Every once in a while, I remember a brief snippet of being young, of trying to learn all of this stuff at once, trying to become a "real" person, and thinking that life was SOOO unfair to children. I remember having a hard time getting waited on at a food counter if my mom wasn't with me. I remember people looking past you, purposely talking over your head, acting as if you weren't important. I remember feeling as if the world were out to get me at times. I also remember all of the people in my life who treated me (and other children) with kindness and respect. I'd like to be one of the people that my children remember as a "rational" adult that respects their beliefs and ideas. I'd also like my children to pick up their dirty clothes, but I doubt that either of these things will actually pan out.